It's like a 'base' program that runs on most platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux and phones too. My old Windows phone had a Java runtime. You can use that base to write your own programs quickly (without having to re-invent the wheel because Java deals with all the basic underpinnings) and those programs obviously then work on any platform that Java supports.The downside is that any program you write using Java needs its parent application installed to work. That's why it tells you to download Java every time you see a program written using it.. In that respect it's just like Flash but more flexible because you can write some complex stuff in it (like Azureus the bittorrent client) whereas Flash is mostly for little multimedia things.I'm not sure how you normally go about writing a program that runs on Java but I know the software I use to write X-Bomber has a java compiler so that you can create java programs that way.

Cheers Crash.Thanks for the explanaton. I understand it a lot more now You are good at explaining things if I can then grasp them!I learn something new everyday Programming always mystifies me. The only time I ever had a go was writing stuff in BASIC for my old Sinclair Spectrum Plus. I wasn't very good at it, and didn't persevere. I wish I had done though, as I'd probably be sitting pretty now, rather than being a penniless Mechanical Engineer

How in God's green Earth is it physically possible to be a penniless Mechanical Engineer? Do you live in the UK? Because seriously we need people who actually know how to do things.Well the coding behind X-Bomber is not really a language in the normal sense because that's not how that package works.You give it "ifs" and "thens" and it has objects, classes, and qualifiers and variables and groups that you can activate and de-activate (pretty much like any language like C++).But you enter the conditions ("if"s) and events ("then"s) into the computer using a visual interface a bit like a spreadsheet or a table. It lists your events down the left and the objects across the top and you define a new event by clicking through a series of menus that contain all the possible tests that you can carry out. and then on that line that is then created you click under an object and you get a similar set of menus showing all the actions that the object can perform.It's really simple but ... still kinda tricky. It takes care of a lot of horrendous things for you (like for instance you can't program something terrible like a memory leak. But it doesn't think for you, far from it. There are some things about it that are a bit infuriating at times.

Ha ha! Crash! That's so sweet You wouldn't have asked that if you were a Mech Eng as well I've been made redundant more times than I care to remember. And the wages are really poor as well, compared to other professional careers.It's great as a hobby, to tinker with stuff, repair stuff, design stuff and then make it. But as a career? No it's rubbish.No-one wants things making anymore, that's what China is for nowadays. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now.I used to do FMEA's which were on huge interactive spreadsheets, so I can kind-of get your description of your coding process. It actually sounds quite interesting.All machinery is infuriating at times. Getting covered in hydraulic oil 'cos your test won't run or it's blown a ram, same thing really.Thanks for the insight